FILE - A drill rig stands at a Fervo Energy geothermal site under construction near Milford, Utah, Nov. 26, 2023. Southern California Edison will purchase electricity from Fervo Energy, Fervo announced on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. One method of making electricity cleanly to address climate change has been quietly advancing and on Tuesday it hit a milestone.
“If these purchases help to get this technology off the ground, it could be massively impactful for global decarbonization,” he said. Decarbonization refers to switching out things that produce carbon dioxide and methane, which cause the climate to change, in favor of machines and methods that don't.
“I think that’s why it’s so exciting. This isn’t a niche energy resource going to a niche use,” she said. “And that is something we have not had, you know, readily available" and able to be scaled up. New geothermal companies are adapting drilling technology and practices taken from the oil and gas industry to create reservoirs from hot rock. That unlocks the potential for geothermal energy in many more places. Engineers have been working to advance the methods for years.